Achieving Styles™

Achieving Styles™ are the nine underlying behavioral strategies that individuals characteristically call upon to achieve their goals.

Connective Leadership™ offers an important perspective for bringing together diverse, even conflicting, groups that exist in an interdependent environment. Achieving Styles™ are the nine underlying behavioral strategies that individuals characteristically call upon to achieve their goals.

The Connective Leadership™/Achieving Styles™ Model includes three sets of Achieving Styles™: Direct, Instrumental, and Relational. Each set comprises three individual styles, resulting in a nine-fold repertoire.

No individual style is intrinsically better than any other. Rather, the purpose of the Connective Leadership™/Achieving Styles™ Model is to identify leadership strategies based on Achieving Styles™ and to call attention to the wide range of behaviors available to all leaders. Those leaders who employ the broadest and most flexible leadership repertoire are most likely to meet the complex challenges of the Connective Era.

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SETS OF STYLES
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STYLES PER SET
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TOTAL STYLES

People who prefer the direct set of behavioral styles tend to confront their own tasks individually and directly (hence the ‘direct’ label). The three styles within the direct set emphasize deriving intrinsic satisfaction from mastering the task, outdoing others through competitive action, and using power to take charge and coordinate everyone and everything. These are the styles most closely linked to diversity and its various expressions of individualism.
People who prefer this style are very self-motivated. They do not wait for others to help them. They look within themselves, both for motivation and for standards of excellence. Even when others assure them that the job they have done is good enough, they are often dissatisfied, particularly if they do not feel they have given it their best shot. They enjoy the sense of autonomy that comes from not having to rely on others. Being in control of themselves and how they do the task gives them a sense of intellectual and creative freedom. They look within themselves for the resources to perform any given task. Tasks that represent a real challenge interest them, regardless of whether or not they will receive any external reward. Doing a task well is reward enough for them. They know what needs to be done, and they usually can articulate that vision for others.
People who prefer this style get great satisfaction from performing a task better than anybody else. Being “number one” is what counts for them. Competition motivates them to do their best. It turns them on. Oftentimes, if a situation does not involve a competitive element, they lose interest. To avoid this, they frequently turn non-competitive situations into contests. If they do not come in first, they are disappointed, but not discouraged. They go back again and again, until they finally succeed.
People who prefer this style like to be in charge of everything: the agenda, the task, events, people, and resources. Leadership positions attract them and give zest and meaning to their activities. They have much less interest in situations that require them to be a follower, since they usually feel that they can do better than the current leader. They are very good at coordinating and organizing people and events. They know how to commandeer resources and use them to take charge and get things done. Most of the time, they understand and act upon the need for delegating tasks to others. When they delegate, however, they tend to keep control of the end result. Since they do not relinquish responsibility for the task, they tend to monitor the delegated activity rather closely.
People who prefer to work on group tasks or to help others attain their goals draw on behaviors described in the relational set. The three relational styles emphasize taking vicarious satisfaction from facilitating and observing the accomplishments of others, as mentors do; taking a secondary or contributory role to help others accomplish their tasks; and working in a collaborative or team mode on a group task.
People who prefer this style enjoy accomplishing a task by doing it with others, from a single collaborator to a team. Faced with a task, their first response is to call upon one or several others to participate in the project. They feel an added surge of enthusiasm and creativity when they do things with others. Working in isolation rarely turns them on, and they usually try to avoid it. People who prefer this style enjoy the camaraderie of working with others and feel devoted to the group and its goals. They are willing to do their portion of the work, but they also expect to receive their fair share of the prize. If the team does not succeed, they stalwartly accept their proper measure of responsibility.
People who prefer this style like to work behind the scenes to help others accomplish their tasks. They take satisfaction from doing their part well so that the “front” person or group is successful. They know that their contribution has made a difference to the other party’s success, and this gives them a satisfying sense of accomplishment. They see themselves as a partner in the other person’s task, but they also understand that the major accomplishment belongs to the other person. They are pleased to participate in important undertakings and often volunteer to help others whose goals they respect.
People who prefer this style derive a real sense of accomplishment from the success of others with whom they identify. They know how to be a good mentor, offering encouragement and guidance to others. They are happy to support other individuals and groups with reassurance, direction, and praise, but they do not get into the act themselves, even behind the scenes. They feel very comfortable as spectators or supporters of others who are the main achievers, rather than as a direct participant in the task. Their sense of pride in the success of others is sufficient reward; they do not need to take credit for their accomplishments.